Liverpool 1-1 Napoli: Five things we learned as toothless Reds struggled

The Champions League doesn’t care about domestic form

The Champions League is a different beast and results in Europe regularly fly in the face of domestic form. This was another night that defied the guide and threw up a surprising result.

Napoli have been struggling in Serie A, they’re fighting with their president and they were a team missing several of their key players. But they came to Anfield and looked better than Liverpool for large sections of the game and could have won it if it weren’t for Lovren.

For large parts of the season, whenever Liverpool have gone behind it seems like a matter of time before they equalize and eventually take the lead. That never looked like happening on Wednesday night as they play lacked urgency, precision and cutting edge.

The introduction of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexander-Arnold briefly threatened to upset the Naples apple cart but in truth it wouldn’t have been deserved.

Much of the noise before the game was about a routine three points and looking forward to a relaxing trip to Austria to face Salzburg. Now Liverpool have to beat a side who are scoring goals for fun and play very well at home.

High proof that the Champions League doesn’t care about domestic form and to treat every game like it’s against a side who could kill you.